SEATTLE _ With Nelson Cruz and Mike Zunino out of the lineup Sunday and likely absent for the next two games in San Francisco, who will the Mariners get to provide the missing power quotient in their lineup?
Well, Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger, of course.
Wait, Dee Gordon?
Yes, the Mariners' speedy center fielder and leadoff man, who weighs about half of what Cruz does with his uniform on and weights in his shoes provided some unexpected pop, while Haniger continued his torrid start to the season, lifting the Mariners to a 5-4 win over the Indians on Sunday afternoon at Safeco Field.
Manager Scott Servais will happily take a series win over the defending American League Central champs and an expected playoff team in 2018 to open the season.
"Heck of a series by our guys," Servais said. "We were a little undermanned today without Z and without Nelson. It was a fun weekend. It was a nice way to start the season. Fans were definitely into it. We felt the energy all weekend. It's a good start for us."
The power display from Gordon and Haniger came in the seventh inning with the scored tied at 2.
Gordon, who hit all of two homers last season and totaled just 11 homers over his eight-year career (713 games) coming into the game, yanked a fastball from right-handed reliever Dan Otero over the wall in right field for Seattle's first lead of the game.
"We acquired Dee Gordon because we knew he'd hit home runs," Servais deadpanned. "Dee, he's got some pop on the ball on the down-and-in pitch. You saw it in spring training a couple of times. He got to it today."
On a frigid day where the ball wasn't carrying well, Gordon dropped the bat immediately. He knew it was gone.
"I was just trying to get on base and I got a good pitch over the plate and put a good swing on it," he said. "I knew at least it was going to be a double."
It was reminiscent of a Ken Griffey Jr. home run reaction. Was he channeling his Florida neighbor?
"I don't hit enough homers to be trying to do stuff when I hit them," he said.
Gordon's celebration left Servais a little concerned, particularly the leaping high-five with Jean Segura after crossing home plate.
"Never seen anybody jump that high and we have issues after home runs here once in a while," Servais said, referring to Cruz's injury after a homer. "There was lot of energy in our dugout."
Haniger provided more energy and some very important runs later in the inning.
After Robinson Cano's one-out single to left off lefty Tyler Olson, a former Gonzaga standout and one-time Mariner, Haniger came to the plate batting in Cruz's cleanup spot.
He ambushed the first pitch from Olson _ an 89 mph fastball on the inside half of the plate _ launching a two-run homer to deep left to give Seattle a 5-2 lead. It was his second straight game with a home run, giving him five hits in eight at-bats this season.
"Mitch is swinging the bat outstanding," Servais said. "He's been right on everything."
Haniger's homer was needed because Edwin Encarnacion cut the lead to 5-4 in the eighth inning with a two-run blast off Juan Nicasio. It was Encarnacion's second homer of the game.
Unlike on opening night, there were no issues in the ninth for Edwin Diaz despite the minimal room for error. Using a fastball that was hitting 100 mph and a slider that featured better depth in its break, the young closer struck out the side, including close friend Francisco Lindor to end the game and notch his second save of the season.
"He was less caught up in the moment today," Servais said. "It was more, 'Let's just try to get them out.' I think it's really important for him to get off to a good start at home. Getting through that rocky one the first night and, today, it was really good stuff. That's Eddie Diaz when the ball is down like that and with the explosion on the fastball, the slider is really tough to lay off."
The Mariners got a solid outing from veteran right-hander Mike Leake, who picked up where he left off last season after being acquired from the Cardinals.
"They're a tough lineup to face," he said of the Indians. "They are ready to go on every pitch."
Leake worked around early trouble and base runners in multiple innings to pitch seven innings and allow two runs on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
"He was outstanding today," Servais said. "Building up his pitches in spring training was really important to him because he wanted to go out there and feel very confident that he'd have 100 to 110 pitches to work with. I thought he did a nice job."
In his first six starts with the Mariners, Leake is 4-1 with 2.54 earned-run average. He's pitched six innings or more in five of those starts.
Seattle scored two runs against starter Trevor Bauer to erase a 2-0 deficit. David Freitas doubled to start the fifth inning and later scored on Segura's double to right-center. Kyle Seager and the Mariners got a break when his hard groundball took a funny hop and bounced over the head of Yonder Alonso at first to score Freitas with two outs.
"It's about time we get a good hop because we've had a few bad hops go our way with these injuries," Servais said. "I'd like to say they all even out. Once in a while, you need to be a little lucky. The new infield is working to our favor."
